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The easiest DIY ever: feed yourself with shower water

This DIY is so easy, I’m only even going to show you 3 pictures…okay really I only took 3 pictures. I’m new at this whole thing, but still, it really is that easy. Collect shower water. Pour it on your vegetables. Eat and be merry!

So we’re (per usual) in the midst of a dismal drought here in central Texas. Not so usual, some places have actually moved to Stage 3 water restrictions. If you don’t live somewhere with an HOA telling you what kind of grass you are allowed to have in your yard (who comes up with this stuff??), then your native yard is probably turning brown just like your neighbors’ and will liven right back up when it rains. But what about the many of us who attempt to grow vegetables? Veggies can’t really go 2 weeks without being watered–mine can barely go 2 days. And while there aren’t limitations on hand watering your garden, I still felt wasteful every time I turned the hose on my thirsty tomato and basil plants–but no more! Enter the easiest way to go green I’ve found.

Find a 5 gallon bucket with a lid.
Drill holes on one side of said lid as you would expect to see if it were a watering can.

Remove lid and take the bucket inside. Here’s the fun part. You know all that water that goes down the drain while you’re waiting for your shower to heat up? You can collect it in the bucket. And when you do, you might be surprised by how much water we all waste just waiting for the warm water to travel from the heater. So stick your bucket under the tub faucet or shower head while it runs before you get in: Then slap on the lid after your shower and go water your veggies! Simple! And free!

Plus, you can also just set it out on your porch in the event that it ever rains again and collect some of that as well. Even if you can’t acquire a bucket, you can collect your pre-shower water with mixing bowls or any other implement you might have laying around.

Someone did ask me about situations where there is a city ordinance against collecting and reusing “gray” water. Good news. Using your bucket in the way I described isn’t gray water reuse. You’re simply using water from a faucet instead of your hose outside. Now if you are collecting water that drains while you are washing yourself in the shower, that is technically gray water…but if you don’t have a problem feeding it to your plants, I sure won’t tell anyone. Happy conservation!